Hydrothermal synthesis and Magnetocaloric effect of La0.5Ca0.3Sr0.2MnO3

The hydrothermal synthesis and magnetic entropy change for the perovskite manganite La0.5Ca0.3Sr0.2MnO3 have been studied. The La0.5Ca0.3Sr0.2MnO3 can be produced as phase-pure, crystalline powders in one step from solutions of metal salts in aqueous potassium hydroxide solution at a temperature of 513 K in 72 h. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the materials are made up of cuboid-shaped particles in typical dimension of 4.0×2.5×1.6 μm. Heat treatment can improve the magnetocaloric effect for the hydrothermal sample. The maximum magnetic entropy change ΔSM for the as-prepared sample is 0.88 J kg−1 K−1 at 315 K for a magnetic field change of 2.0 T. It increases to 1.52 J kg−1 K−1, near its Curie temperature (317 K) by annealing the sample at 1473 K for 6 h. The hydrothermal synthesis method is a feasible route to prepare high-quality perovskite material for magnetic refrigeration application.